Palmyra Borough mayoral candidate Kevin Yiengst charged with DUI

Palmyra Borough mayoral candidate Kevin Yiengst was charged with DUI following a Thursday night incident in Palmyra.

According to an affidavit of probable cause, a patrolman from the Western Lebanon County Regional Police Department was dispatched around 8:12 p.m. Thursday to a motor vehicle accident on the 400 block of North Railroad Street. Arriving around 8:15 p.m., the officer discovered a white GMC Sierra pickup truck with heavy front-end damage that had crashed into a house northeast of the North Railroad and Willow streets intersection.

The affidavit states that approximately 10 people were standing outside the crash location, including defendant Kevin Robert Yiengst, who was described as “being unsteady on his feet.”

According the affidavit, the officer spoke with Yiengst, who said he was not injured and didn’t need EMS. The officer says that he observed a small cut on Yiengst’s right forearm but no further injuries. The affidavit states that when EMS asked Yiengst what happened he pointed to his vehicle then said “a cat ran in front of me I turned and…” then put his hands up in the air.

The officer described in the affidavit a strong order of an alcoholic beverage coming from Yiengst’s breath as well as glassy eyes and slow and lethargic speech. The officer says that Yiengst denied EMS multiple times but he compelled Yiengst to sit in the ambulance so he could be evaluated prior to Standard Field Sobriety Testing.

The officer said in the affidavit that he and an EMT had to hold Yiengst while walking to the ambulance because Yiengst was unsteady on his feet.

Inside the ambulance, the officer says in the affidavit that he asked Yiengst how much he had to drink, to which Yiengst allegedly said “several.” The affidavit states that Yiengst followed up by saying, “I was drinking vodka and whatever the hell I was … yes.” The officer asked Yiengst when his last drink was and Yiengst allegedly said 20 minutes ago.

The officer says that he then performed field sobriety tests on Yiengst and observed six clues (three for each eye) in the Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus Test and several indicators of impairment during the Walk and Turn Test. The officer said he did not feel it was safe for Yiengst to do the 1 Leg Stand Test.

The officer then placed Yiengst under arrest for suspicion of DUI. The officer said in the affidavit that Yiengst mentioned several times throughout the investigation process that he was “going to be the Mayor of Palmyra.”

The officer said in the affidavit that due to the noise and doctor’s order for Yiengst to be brought in for evaluation, he escorted him to an ambulance where he read the DL-26B, a blood testing warnings form. To that, Yiengst allegedly responded, “what the f*** are we doing all this bulls*** for? I told you the truth, you can read that s*** all you want.”

The officer said Yiengst originally stated he would do a blood draw and was transported to Penn State Hershey Medical Center, where he was re-read the DL-26B form because Yiengst was then refusing the blood test. The officer said that all of this was captured on body camera and that he then filled out the DL-26B form as a refusal.

According to court records, a preliminary hearing for Yiengst was scheduled for 8 a.m. Friday in front of Magisterial District Judge David Warner. He faces a misdemeanor DUI charge and a summary charge for careless driving.

Yiengst did not immediately respond to LebTown requests for comment Friday morning. He is a candidate in the Tuesday, May 20, primary election for Palmyra Borough mayor. He is running against incumbent mayor Tom Miller in the Republican primary.